Stolen Video Camera

You are the team leader of a four-person video crew from Industrial Video Imaging (IVI). You are on your way to film the installation of energy panels at a power generating station in rural West Virginia. The film, which will be approximately one-hour long, will be shown to the Solar Energy Commission, a client with whom your Senior Management will be meeting in three days.

On the morning of the installation, you discover that your only camera, a Panatronic-880 digital video camera worth $8000, is missing from your company van, parked outside your motel in Flatrock, WV. Upon inspection, you notice damage to the lock and latch on the van’s back door.

While speaking with the Flatrock Police Department, you are asked to go in and fill out an incident report. Since you need to find a camera and get to the installation site, you are caught between competing time pressures; you designate a crew member to stay in Flatrock to complete the police report, but you still must decide what to do about filming the installation.

You have time to stop at a local discount store and purchase a small, multipurpose digital video camera for about $700. While this solution would allow you to get to the installation on time and film the process as planned, the small, multipurpose camera might not capture some details that are important information to the Solar Energy Commission (such as the setting of the solar collectors’ tracking arcs and the calibrating of the sensing instruments). The other option is to drive to a larger city, about 60 miles away, where you could purchase a new Panatronic-880. If you did this, however, you would arrive late, missing the first 20 minutes of the installation.

Directions:

Weigh the pros and cons of both options: buying a less expensive camera that may not capture the details requested by the client or travelling farther to purchase a camera identical to the one stolen but missing the first third of the installation process. Use critical thinking skills to decide which course of action to take.

Assume that you have acted on your decision, that the video was delivered on time, and that you are back in your office. Because the video was lacking either quality or quantity (based on the decision you made), you have been asked to explain the situation in Flatrock, the actions you took, and why you took those actions at the time of the crisis. Write a memo to your supervisor, Chris Campbell, East Region Field Manager for IVI. Assume your memo also will be read by IVI Senior Management.

Elements of a desired response:

•A clear, well-organized description of the problem and explanation of your solution

•Inclusion of specific supporting details and evidence

•Demonstration of a clear purpose and awareness of the audience

•Effective development and sequencing of your ideas

•Appropriate style and tone for a business document

•Standard written English grammar, spelling, and punctuation